deepColor command line problem

[ravincravin]

A deepColor command line problem cropped up recently in which the scenario button on the main screen and and 3 buttons in the scenario detail screen are only displayed as a small square with a downward triangle inside. To make matters worse, all ships rendered in the combat screens are also displayed as such. This is not a critical problem since the game runs normally using the stock 16 bit color scheme. I have been running with 32 bit color since day one and sort of got use to it. It would be nice if I could get this problem resolved.

The only 2 things that may have contributed to this problem is that I [alt-ctl-delete] exited a game during a combat phase. I also recently installed Civilizations IV which I thought may have altered a character set that WitP may use.

My game is patched to 1.806 and I'm playing the '44 campaign but I don't think the scenario is relevant.

If anyone had this problem or have any suggestions or recommendations to fix it, this ol' retired Sarge would appreciate it. Thanks.

[rtrapasso]

A couple of questions/suggestions:
1) have you rebooted?
2)have you updated your video drivers lately?

[wdolson]

Sounds like Windows running out of handles again.  99% of the time odd screen artifacts can be fixed by rebooting the computer.

Bill

[ravincravin]

Hi Guys-

Thanks for your response. I tried rebooting. When that didn't work I reinstalled WitP into my slave drive where it was originally installed. When that didn't work I reinstalled into my primary drive where it is now.

Several weeks ago I downloaded Nvidia driver build No. 185 and had problems with the installation. (According to Nvidia's forum, a lot of people with their 7 series device had problems with this build.) I downloaded an older build No. 182.08 and installed that over my existing build No. 178. That seems to work flawlessly. I don't think this problem cropped up right after that installation.

below is my system information:

Operating System Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition Service Pack 3 (Build 2600)
DirectX Version 9.0c
Display Device NVIDIA GeForce 7600 GT
Display Memory 256.0
Display Driver 6.14.11.8208
Sound Device SB Live! 24-bit Pass
Sound Driver 5.12.01.514

System Device Information
Processor
Intel Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 3.00GHz 2992.7 Mhz

Memory
System Total 2049.0
Virtual Total 2047.9
Pagefile Total 4096.0

[ravincravin]

The mystery thickens (no sickens). I just reinstalled the stock v1.2 game and it runs in 32 bit color fine but when installing the 1.804 patch it screws it up. I recalled reading in this forum that the 1.804 patch had a false positive virus alert in some antivirus programs.

I had recently installed Avast antivirus and think that program may have screwed up my original installed version of WitP and my achived version of patch 1.804. I have uninstalled Avast and in the process of downloading patch 1.804 again.

Hopefully this will solve the problem. I will keep you advised if this is the case.

[rtrapasso]

Some people have reported problems with Windows Xp Service Pack 3... when did you install that?

[rtrapasso]

I had recently installed Avast antivirus and think that program may have screwed up my original installed version of WitP and my achived version of patch 1.804. I have uninstalled Avast and in the process of downloading patch 1.804 again.

Possibly, although usually WITP just gets you Error 999 or the likes if the antivirus attacks the program (or more specifically, the witprec.exe file.)

[ravincravin]

I just tried the new download of patch 1.804 and the results is the same. So this tells me that something changed in my computer recently (since I had no problems in the past using the deepColor command line) and it is in conflict with patch 1.804.

I installed Windows service pack 3 many months ago so I don't think that was it. Avast antivirus doesn't appear to be the problem either.

So I'm back at square one guys.

[rtrapasso]

ORIGINAL: ravincravin

I just tried the new download of patch 1.804 and the results is the same. So this tells me that something changed in my computer recently (since I had no problems in the past using the deepColor command line) and it is in conflict with patch 1.804.

I installed Windows service pack 3 many months ago so I don't think that was it. Avast antivirus doesn't appear to be the problem either.

So I'm back at square one guys.

What version of DirectX are you using? Have you upgraded it recently??

[ravincravin]

Direct x version 9.0C. I checked several months ago and was told it was up to date. I'll go to the site and check today.

[rtrapasso]

ORIGINAL: ravincravin

Direct x version 9.0C. I checked several months ago and was told it was up to date. I'll go to the site and check today.

Unlikely that is the problem, then... i had heard of problems with Direct X ver 10 (albeit in conjunction with VISTA.)

EDIT: Only thing i can think of right now is that one of the automatic WINDOWS upgrade might have affected things... you could try doing a rollback to an earlier version to see if that was the cause (this is easier said than done.)

[ravincravin]

Something very interest occured. I downloaded directx updates Nov 08 thru Mar 09 and installed. I ran WitP in deepColor and the BUTTONS WERE THERE! I rebooted and tried again. Alas, the BUTTONS WERE GONE AGAIN! ARRRG!!!

I thought maybe WitP had a memory leak so I increased my virtual memory but that had no effect.

More clues but no substainable success. Thanks anyways for reminding me to update directx.

[ravincravin]

I don't know if this is a bandaide or a fix. Go to the directory where you saved the game. Right click on "War in the Pacific.exe" and click on Properties. Open the Compatibility Tab and put a check mark in Input settings "Turn off advanced text services for this program". Click apply.

If anyone out there has any knowledge in micro-code, perhaps you can tell me if I turned off any viable portion of the WitP program using this setting. I've played one complete turn and everything seems to be working including the tracker program on the saved game file.

So unless something crops up in the future I guess this case is closed. Thanks to all who helped.

[rtrapasso]

ORIGINAL: ravincravin

I don't know if this is a bandaide or a fix. Go to the directory where you saved the game. Right click on "War in the Pacific.exe" and click on Properties. Open the Compatibility Tab and put a check mark in Input settings "Turn off advanced text services for this program". Click apply.

If anyone out there has any knowledge in micro-code, perhaps you can tell me if I turned off any viable portion of the WitP program using this setting. I've played one complete turn and everything seems to be working including the tracker program on the saved game file.

So unless something crops up in the future I guess this case is closed. Thanks to all who helped.

This sounds like yet another VISTA problem, however, you said you are using Xp... never run into it before, but hopefully you have solved it.

Keep us posted if it becomes a problem again.

[ravincravin]

No problems to date. I take it you are leaving this string active for archival purposes. Will comply with your request if something crops up in the future.

[wdolson]

ORIGINAL: ravincravin

I don't know if this is a bandaide or a fix. Go to the directory where you saved the game. Right click on "War in the Pacific.exe" and click on Properties. Open the Compatibility Tab and put a check mark in Input settings "Turn off advanced text services for this program". Click apply.

If anyone out there has any knowledge in micro-code, perhaps you can tell me if I turned off any viable portion of the WitP program using this setting. I've played one complete turn and everything seems to be working including the tracker program on the saved game file.

So unless something crops up in the future I guess this case is closed. Thanks to all who helped.

Microcode is stuff embedded in the microprocessor. It's a few levels removed from an application like the game.

In any case, your change almost certainly will not disable anything within the game. The game runs fine on Windows 98, and there are no enhancements for later versions of Windows.

You said you were using Windows XP. Is it possible you have a 64 bit version? XP 64 is not very common, but MS did make a version that was 64 bit. If the OS was trying to do some 64 bit things and the program is written for 32 bit, that may have caused the problem.

Bill

[ravincravin]

Thanks for clearing up my misconception about micro code. I seriously doubt I am running WindowsXP 64. The folder I see in my windows folder says "System32" which I assume is the 32 bit version. All subsidiary programs and drivers installed (and I have updated) were always for Windows XP 32.
 
Anyways, It's good to know I didn't do anything that would affect WitP adversely and I thank you for providing that information.